Retiarius fuscinam tenet.

You can tell by the case endings.

• retiarius is nominative singular, so it is the subject
• fuscinam is accusative singular, so it is the direct object
• tenet is the verb: holds

So Latin is showing:

• the retiarius = the one doing the action
• the trident = the thing being held

English mostly depends on word order for this, but Latin often depends more on endings.

Because the noun is being used as a direct object.

The basic dictionary form is fuscina, but in the sentence it changes to the accusative singular form:

• fuscina = nominative singular
• fuscinam = accusative singular

This is a very common pattern for first-declension nouns:

• -a in the nominative singular
• -am in the accusative singular

So fuscinam means that the trident is the thing being held.

Retiarius is nominative singular masculine.

That means it is:

• singular: one retiarius
• masculine
• in the subject form

It belongs to the second declension, even though it does not end in plain -us in a simple-looking way like some other nouns. Its forms include things like:

• retiarius = nominative singular
• retiarii = genitive singular / nominative plural, depending on context

In this sentence, retiarius is the subject.

Tenet comes from teneo, tenere, meaning to hold.

Here it is:

• present tense
• indicative mood
• active voice
• third person singular

So it means he/she/it holds or sometimes is holding, depending on context.

Because the subject is retiarius, the natural translation is the retiarius holds or the net-fighter is holding.

Yes.

Latin present tense often covers both:

• holds
• is holding

English makes a stronger distinction between simple present and progressive present, but Latin often does not. Context decides which English translation sounds best.

So Retiarius fuscinam tenet could be understood as either:

• The retiarius holds a trident
• The retiarius is holding a trident

Because Latin does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So a noun like retiarius can mean:

• a retiarius
• the retiarius

And fuscinam can mean:

• a trident
• the trident

Which one is best depends on context. English has to choose, but Latin usually does not mark that difference directly.

Not as much as in English.

Latin word order is more flexible because the case endings already show what each noun is doing.

This sentence has a very natural Latin order:

• Retiarius = subject
• fuscinam = object
• tenet = verb

That is a common pattern in Latin.

But other orders are possible, such as:

• Fuscinam retiarius tenet
• Tenet retiarius fuscinam

These would still mean basically the same thing, though the emphasis might change. For example, putting fuscinam first can emphasize the trident.

A good Classical Latin approximation is:

reh-tee-AH-ree-oos foos-KEE-nam TEH-net

A few helpful points:

• c is always hard, like k
• sc here is pronounced sk
• t stays a plain t
• r is ideally trilled or tapped
• tenet has two short e sounds: TEH-net

More exactly in Classical pronunciation:

• retiarius = re-ti-A-ri-us
• fuscinam = fus-ki-nam
• tenet = te-net

No.

In Latin, the verb ending already tells you the person and number. The ending -et here shows third person singular.

So tenet already means:

• he holds
• she holds
• it holds

Because the subject noun retiarius is already present, there is no need for a separate pronoun.

A very important basic pattern:

subject (nominative) + direct object (accusative) + verb

Here that looks like:

• Retiarius = nominative subject
• fuscinam = accusative direct object
• tenet = verb

So this sentence is a good beginner example of how Latin shows sentence structure through endings, not just through word order.